Looking around, there are quite a few projects that can be considered to be open source, or at least "community source". Have a peak at http://www.kuali.org/comsource/document_view for stories about a few examples including Sakai, Kuali, and uPortal.
As these examples indicate, the author's conclusions are at least questionable or misleading.
Ironically, the University of Michigan runs their course management (35,000 students) on the Sakai Project, which is offered under a version of an OSS license, AND they are a contributing member of the A-HEC site. Would UMich argue that OSS is 'not ready for prime time'? I doubt it.
The fact is that there are several OSS packages being used in schools, for example Kuali (kuali.org) which runs financial software for 'Carnegie Class Institutions'. An article from the Chronicle of Higher Education website (http://chronicle.com/free/2004/08/2004083002n.htm) mentions that 46% of 257 Nacubo members surveyed see OSS offerings as viable alternatives.
Thus, something (either the report or the article we are discussing) is clearly not looking at all the facts available in higher education.
Slashdot Mirror
Looking around, there are quite a few projects that can be considered to be open source, or at least "community source". Have a peak at http://www.kuali.org/comsource/document_view for stories about a few examples including Sakai, Kuali, and uPortal. As these examples indicate, the author's conclusions are at least questionable or misleading.
Ironically, the University of Michigan runs their course management (35,000 students) on the Sakai Project, which is offered under a version of an OSS license, AND they are a contributing member of the A-HEC site. Would UMich argue that OSS is 'not ready for prime time'? I doubt it. The fact is that there are several OSS packages being used in schools, for example Kuali (kuali.org) which runs financial software for 'Carnegie Class Institutions'. An article from the Chronicle of Higher Education website (http://chronicle.com/free/2004/08/2004083002n.htm ) mentions that 46% of 257 Nacubo members surveyed see OSS offerings as viable alternatives.
Thus, something (either the report or the article we are discussing) is clearly not looking at all the facts available in higher education.